Why me?
by Invader Gilly
Summary: While vacationing in Paris, a Goth named Annie gets hit by a car, killed, and sent to Halloween Town. To her dismay, she has to chose sides in a inter-holiday war started by Oogie that... Jack is getting blamed for?
1. I hate Paris

**A/N: What's this? Could it be that Invader Gilly's publishing a new story? How? She doesn't even have her in-progress stories finished yet! All right, all right, before you Doomy Sports and Something Wicked This Way Comes fans (if there are any) start throwing rather sharp objects at me, let me explain. I downloaded 'This is Halloween' onto my i-pod a week ago for reasons unknown, and I realized that I haven't seen 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' in forever. So, obviously, I had to be my parents to take me to the nearest Blockbuster and rent me the movie. And, naturally, I fell back in love with it. Being the paranoid person that I am, I wracked my brains for a fanfic and came up with this beauty! Okay, maybe not a beauty, but I'll need REVIEWS (hint, hint) to help me improve on my writing style. Enough of my nonsense talk, ONWARD WITH THE STORY!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TNBC, or basically ANYTHING mentioned in the story, even the Café! I just own Annie.**

_Chapter 1 – I hate Paris_

The setting was picturesque, there was no denying it. With the Eiffel Tower nestled between the Seine River and the Champ de Mars, the location could easily be defined as Paris. One could imagine accordion music and barrette-clad people singing songs about _Amore_ as you passed La Castel Café. The sunlight sparkled and danced on the water spouting from the ornate fountain, and the sky was such a clear blue. Cars zoomed back and forth on Avenue de Suffern in front of the Café as its doors opened. A tall girl with shoulder-length black hair and spiky bangs exited the restaurant. Dressed all in black and with a scowl on her face, she kicked a pebble on the sidewalk while muttering to herself.

"Didn't even have a hamburger" she grumbled. "What kind of lousy place doesn't have a hamburger? Why do people come here, anyhow? I hate Paris!" This statement, along with her Goth apparel and what seemed permanent scowl, was earning her quite a few stares from passerby as she trudged down Avenue de Suffern.

"Mademoiselle?" asked a tall young man in a concerned voice. "Are you all right?"

"No!" snapped the girl. "I'm not fine! In fact, I'm far from it!" She glared at him angrily.

"M-mademoiselle?" he stuttered, quite taken aback by her response.

"And I'm not 'mademoiselle'! My name is Annie, mister, and don't ever forget it!" she shouted, suddenly turning on her heel and stomping off in the opposite direction, still muttering under her breath, which was now causing Parisians to question Annie's state of mind. Suddenly, the song 'Unwell' by Matchbox Twenty blared from her pocket. Annie took out her cell phone with a groan and hit 'talk'.

"_Hello? Annie, darling? Is that you?"_

"Yeah. What do you want?"

"_Don't talk to your mother in that tone."_

Annie's only response was a grunt. He mother chose to ignore this, as she had enough to worry about. Annie's mother was currently vacationing in the Caribbean, drinking Pina Calottes and having her toe nails painted 'Sunset Orange'.

"_How's your vacation?"_

"Fine."

"_Are you enjoying yourself?"_

"No. You spent thousands of dollars on this? What a waste."

"You should have come with your father and me, then. We're having the most delightful time here! I've learned how to tango!"

"Why would I want to come with you? We have nothing alike. I'd probably stay in my room the whole time and you'd grouse about me ruining your vacation."

Annie's mother couldn't argue with this, as it was true. Their last 'family vacation' in the Swiss Alps was a disaster. She decided to change the subject. _"Are you learning about the culture?"_

"I've learned that there are no hamburgers here. No good ones, anyway. I ordered one, and they out raw egg on it."

"_You should try it, maybe you'll like it!"_

Annie let out a bark-like laugh at this.

"_Annie, sweetie, don't laugh like that. It sounds so crude. You should be having fun! Can't you think of something to do that you would like?"_

"It's almost Halloween" Annie mused. "Maybe they have haunted houses here." She could almost visualize her mother shuddering dramatically at the other end of the phone.

"_Annie, I'd wish that you'd give up your fascination with that holiday. It's dark and vile and –"_

"Oh, would you look at that! A giant spaceship is crashing down onto the Eiffel Tower. I've gotta run!"

"_Annie –"_

"Good-bye, Mother."

Sighing with relief, Annie punched 'end' on her phone, silently cursing herself for accepting the call in the first place. She took out her i-pod and inserted the earplugs into her ears. Setting her sights on the Champ de Mars, she began to cross the busy Avenue Gustave Eiffel without looking.

With Blink-182 blaring in her ears and her eyes set on the park, she didn't hear nor see the car that came barreling towards her at top speed. At the last minute, she glanced to her left and let out a shriek; the driver slammed on the brakes but it was too late. Annie collapsed onto the street, one last thought forming in her head as life slowly left her body,

"_Damn, I really hate Paris!"_

**A/N: Good, bad, horrid? How was it? You know I always like hearing from you guys, so review por favor! I'll only continue if I get responses!**

**~Gilly**


	2. What do you mean 'I'm dead'

**A/N: WOO! Second chappie is up! Now, I'm gonna say this once; I write OCs. Lots of them. I like to. BUT, I don't write Mary-Sues. Annie will not have any romantic relations with Jack… I mean, a ghost and a skeleton? Come on! And thank you Invader NAV and Acro111 for reviewing! **

**P.S. ~ There are a couple cameos in here, too. See if you can spot them. GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL!**

**Disclaimer: Why these are necessary, I have no idea. **

PAIN.

That was the first thing Annie noticed when she awoke; the white hot pain screaming on the whole left side of her body. Groaning loudly, she hefted herself up on her elbow, temporarily forgetting about her injured side. The sudden, burning pain came as a reminder. Annie swore at the speed of light before collapsing back on the ground. She warily prodded her side, sharply inhaling through her teeth as the inevitable ache came, worse than before and bringing tears to her eyes. "Oh!" she said in surprise. "Stop, dammit, STOP!"

To her utter shock, the pain ebbed away, soon leaving her completely. Annie's brow furrowed. "That's weird" she muttered. "Whatever hospital I'm in did a good job of fixing me…." Annie's voice faded away into nothingness. She wasn't in a hospital. For God's sake, it didn't even look like she was in _Paris _anymore!

"Damn, damn, damn, damn, DAMN!" screamed Annie, twirling around on the spot. Where the hell was she? It looked like some creepy forest thing that looked like it had 'Scary with a capital S' on its résumé. Trees were all around, with black bark and drooping branches. Bloodcurdling sounds came from the depths of the forest, and the full moon didn't help, either. "I'm doomed" muttered Annie. In this bizarre turn of events, she tried to make some of sense out of what had happened.

'Let's see' she thought wildly. 'I got hit by a car and I woke up here…. I probably walked here, and then got some strange form of amnesia and collapsed! Yeah, that makes sense!'

Even in her head the words sounded stupid.

"No, no, no" she muttered, running a hand through her hair and walking through a nearby tree.

….

….

Wait, WHAT?

Annie spun on her heel and took a good look at herself for the first time since she woke up in the forest. She wasn't wearing her normal green and black striped shirt, jeans and Converse shoes. Instead, she had on a knee length white, flowy dress that was ragged at the sleeves and hem. Her hair was floating about as if she was underwater. She grasped her arm in fright and bit back a scream, it was deathly cold. Then she let all her horror lose in one hair-raising scream as she registered what her body looked like.

She was a_ ghost_!

A freaking ghost!

Usually, most people, upon finding out that they were un-dead, would either have a severe mental breakdown, go haunt some random annoying people, or order a Big Mac and fries at McDonald's. Annie, however, was not 'most people'.

Glaring up at the sky, she shook her fist comically and shouted to the Heavens, "WHAT THE HELL? TURN ME INTO GOD-DAMMED GHOST? YOU CAN'T DO ANY BETTER THAN THAT? I MEAN, SERIOUSLY! 'OOH, LOOK AT ME, I CAN DEFY SCIENCE'! I'M _NOT_ IMPRESSED!"

Suddenly, a well aimed lightning bolt just _happened_ to snap an overhanging branch in, squashing Annie. She covered her head with her hands before the famed light bulb sprang into existence over her head. "Oh, yeah" she mused, tapping her chin with one finger. "I'm already dead."

Then the full force of this realization hit her like a freight train.

"Wait a minute…. I'm _dead_!"

**HELLO! I AM A PAGE BREAK! PLEASE IGNORE ME, AS I AM OF NO REAL IMPORTANCE! TEE-HEE!**

_Jack Skellington: Savior of Halloween Town OR Demonic Half-human/Half-vampire/One-one-hundredth-part-blue-whale?_

Jack sighed and crumpled the newspaper in his hand. Ever since that nosy little busybody _Beetle Skier _moved to town with her infernal short-notes-pen, she had been trying to "dig up the dirt" on "Jackie S." (Oh, how embarrassing that name was….)

There had been interviews galore the week after Oogie's defeat. The mayor had hosted a huge ceremony in Jack's honor. Four hours long it was, and by the end of it, the only one without his eyes unfocused and drooling slightly was the mayor himself.

And Sally….

Jack pat his coat pocket, smiling as he felt the lump that resided there. He took out a small, black compact case and opened it with a small click, his grin growing as his eyes came to rest on the delicate black ring that rested in the box. It was an absolutely beautiful (in the Halloween Town sense) engagement ring (_'Well, duh!' shouted legions of fans, face palming at the author's stupidity_).

Humming slightly to himself, Jack idly straightened papers on his desk. He had yet to propose to Sally. Every time he wanted to tell her, something came up.

**BANG BANG BANG!**

"Jaaaaack!"

The mayor.

Jack groaned and hastily stowed the engagement ring back in his pocket. "Come in!" he called out with forced cheerfulness.

The mayor burst in like a category 5 hurricane, dragging Lock, Shock, and Barrel behind him. "Jack!" the mayor panted. "I caught these three…." His eyes darted around suspiciously "_Sneaking around_!"

"Sneaking!" cried Lock indignantly.

"So impolite!" said Shock.

Barrel pouted. "You see us and first thing you say is that we're –"

All together now –

"SNEAKING!"

Jack narrowed his eyes at the threesome. "Well, what were you doing?"

Lock, Shock, and Barrel glared up at the King and growled. "_Sneaking_."

Jack rubbed his temples and sighed. As much as he would love to send the Boogie boys (and girl) packing, he need a legitimate reason to get rid of them. Besides, he had enough to worry about at the moment.

He airily waved his hand in the door's general direction. "Go. Just – go. Mayor, if you would please escort them out - ?"

The mayor took his cue to leave and helped the Trick-or-Treaters out of Jack's room with swift kicks to the backside.

**TEE-HEE! IT'S ME AGAIN! DON'T PAY ME ANY MIND…. BUT I WOULDN'T SAY NO TO CASH! I'M NOT GETTING PAID! AT ALL!**

Lock, Shock, and Barrel meandered their way back to their tree house, rubbing their tender backsides. "Stupid mayor" grumbled Lock, gingerly sitting down on a chair.

"Stupid Jack" mumbled Shock.

"They'll pay" hissed Barrel, walking over to a rusted safe. Twirling the dial to 7-7-7, he warily opened the door to reveal hundreds of jam jars packed to the brim with bugs. As they noticed Barrel, they hissed, and one could almost hear them speaking unanimously... "Put me back together, you incompetent fools!"

Lock stepped up to the safe, grinning and holding what resembled a large, shapeless burlap sack.

Shock sidled up to her friends with a nasty grin on her face.

The three children whispered two words that would send the faint of heart running.

"It's time."

**A/N: Dun Dun DUUUUN! Cliffhanger! Anyways, I always appreciate hearing from you guys, so just click on that little button down there! You see it? It says 'review' in pretty blue letters. Reviews are appreciated, flames will be used to toast the souls f the damned in Pepito Diablo's basement. =P**

**~Gilly**


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